Detecting high-speed and maneuvering targets is challenging in early warning radar applications. Modern early warning radar has many functions such as detection, tracking, imaging, and recognition which need a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Thus, long-time coherent integration is a necessary method to realize high SNR requirements. However, high-speed and maneuverable motion cause range and Doppler migration, which brings about serious coherent integration loss. Traditional integration methods usually have the drawbacks of model mismatching and high computational complexity. This paper establishes a novel long coherent processing interval (CPI) integration algorithm that detects maneuvering and weak targets which have a low reflection cross-section (RCS) and low echo SNR. The range and Doppler migration problems are solved via a layer integration by blending the association in a tracking-before-detection (TBD) technique. Compact SNR gain is achieved with a target information transmission mechanism and an updated constant false alarm ratio (CFAR) threshold. The algorithm is applicable in multiple target scenarios by considering different velocity ambiguities and maneuvers. A simulation and real-measured experiments confirm the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Keywords: TBD; long CPI coherent integration; target detection; updated CFAR.